Elmar Qasımov

Elmar Qasımov at the presidential reception after the 2016 Olympic Games

Elmar İlqar oğlu Qasımov or Elmar Gasimov (born November 2, 1990 in Xırdalan , Abşeron Rayon ) is an Azerbaijani judoka . Since 2008 he competes in the light heavyweight division (up to 100 kg). In 2016 he won the Olympic silver medal.

Athletic career

After fighting in the junior division in lower weight classes, Qasımov won the 2008 Azerbaijani national championship in light heavyweight. At the 2009 World Championships he was defeated in the semifinals against Kazakhs Maxim Rakow , while Qasımov lost the battle for bronze to Ramadan Darwish from Egypt . In the same year he was U20 European champion. At the 2010 World Championships , he reached the quarter-finals and lost there against the Cuban Oreidis Despaigne .

Qasımov won his first international medal in the adult class at the European Championships in 2012 , after a quarter-final defeat against the Russian Safar Machmadow , Qasımov fought his way to the bronze medal in the hope round . At the Olympic Games in London , he lost the quarter-finals against the South Korean Hwang Hee-tae and ultimately finished seventh. In 2013 he reached the semifinals against the Czech Lukáš Krpálek at the European Championships in Budapest , and Qasımov also lost the battle for bronze against the Latvian Jevgenijs Borodavko . A year later he was defeated in the final of the 2014 European Judo Championships against Lukáš Krpálek.

At the European Judo Championships in 2016, Qasımov lost in the quarter-finals to the Dutchman Henk Grol and finished fifth after another defeat against the Estonian Grigori Minaskin . Three and a half months later, Qasımov won his first four fights at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , in the quarterfinals against the Egyptian Ramadan Darwish and in the semifinals against the Ukrainian Artem Bloschenko , he won ahead of schedule through Ippon . In the final he met Lukáš Krpálek, who won the fight shortly before the end by Ippon.

In 2017 he finished fifth at the 2017 European Judo Championships after losing to his compatriot Elxan Məmmədov in the semifinals . At the World Championships in Budapest he was defeated in the quarterfinals against the Japanese Aaron Wolf , the battle for bronze won Qasımov against Mammadov. In 2019, the European Championships were held in Minsk as part of the European Games , Qasımov won a bronze medal.

Web links

• Elmar Qasımov at JudoInside.com
• Elmar Qasımov in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )